AC The Return
by Dillinja
Summary: Betrayed and destroyed, the Ravens are no more. Zio Matrix had become a force of menacing proportions. Now, as they make the last step to cement their stronghold, black wing stir in earths darkest hour. Down but never defeated, the Ravens are BACK!
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Armored Core: The Return  
  
We come now to mankind's darkest days. The world is not what once it was. Powers have shifted, lands have changed, and much that was is lost, destroyed or forgotten. But there is too much to tell and so little time to tell it. But let us begin where we can:  
  
In the year A.E. 235 the Ravens, mankind's warrior angels, fell from the heavens. Their fortress of old, Nerve Concord, fell victim to the evil of treachery and the ills of war. The once guns-for-hire turned rebellious fighters were destroyed by the M1Zingram Army, the military arm of the Mirage Corporation. With none left to oppose them, the rule of the "Corperations", Mirage, Zio Matrix, it's sister company Neo Matrix, and Emeraude ruled absolute. Swollen and and powerful they took total control, ruling the colonies like lords of a feudal land, unchallenged and unopposed. Truly, mankind has known no darker hour than this. What is left of the Ravens is a scattered people. Forced into hiding throughout the colonies in order to survive, the gears of resistance, so to speak, had nearly ground to a halt. Until now. On the eve of the merger of Zio Matrix and a new and dangerous force, Inex, the shadows begin to speak. In the Ghetto's, the Sectors, the downtrodden people walk with their heads lowered, their eyes averted from the ubiquitous Zingram guard, but they carry a hope now; The Ravens are coming. The Return is close at hand. 


	2. Chapter 1: A Hope Beyond

Chapter 1: What hope may come  
  
In the busy daily bustle of the Siria Colony marketplace, Grail, cloaked and hooded -as had now become his uniform- moved swiftly between the massive tide of bodies. One might wonder how a man with platinum white hair, skin of a deep pallor and eyes as yellow as a topaz could go unnoticed, but the people of the colonies are stauch believers in "mind your own business, leave out of the affairs of others," and so he goes about his business, unnoticed. He walked quickly, striding almost, along they way, five foot nine with a boyish face. The cloaked trailed behind him , darting in and out and between people as he went along. Eventually he came to a stall, no different from several others he may have passed, but at this one he stopped, looking at the man on the other side of him, a bald headed, hunched over old man, with particular interest. " What can I do far ya ma boy? I got the finest produce in all Siria." " Got anything sweet from the Out colonies?" asked Grail. " Westember or so." " My what exotic taste you have. Good fruit indeed do they grow there. Very hard to get this far in the Colony Enclosed." He searched around on his table. "But I do have a few. Hard to come by these ones. Mens lose their lives for these. Here they are. That'll be thirty credits!" The old man handed him two large Orange-red melons, smiled, and wiped his hand in his apron. Grail reached beneath his cloak and produced two one thousand credit chips. " Here. Take these." The old man look at the credits then at him. "No son, that's alright." " Please," implored Grail, "take it. It's the best I can do." " No," the old man said, reaching across to take his hand, "do the right thing.  
  
In a moment Grail disappeared from before the stall and ,checking all ways before he did, descended into a alley The busy marketplace provided isolation of a sort you could not find anywhere else. Amidst all this bustle, an alleyway was the most secure place one could be. For a moment he studied the melons, turning each slowly to see if there were any discernable marks on it. This was extremely important. When scrutiny yielded none he smashed the first against the wall. Nothing. He took the second one and did the same, smashing it against the wall. Between the broken pieces of melon and the orange insides a thin clear tube was hidden. Grail attended to it. He wiped it in his cloak and then opened it unfolding the letter inside.  
  
Dear Grail  
  
I know that is has been a long time since last I made contact and I am sorry for that. Much has transpired since the last time we met and communication has been at times dangerous, at other times deadly. I report to you sadly that our numbers grow yet thinner and several of our members haven fallen at the hands of Inex, Mirage or Zio Matrix. Sadly there is no time for us to lament the fallen and in due time the injustice done against our flock will be righted. But for now we must lay low at the peril of destruction. I must tell you - for I know it will be of great concern to you - we have not found Laine. You know how I feel; that she was in fact lost -with so many of our kin- in the fall of Nerve 1, our great home, but the search will go on indefinitely. For you. Master Talbot is well and it is by his order, as much as yours, that I keep the search parties out and looking for his daughter.  
  
Now we must get down to matters of business. Through my network I have fallen privy to information of a vital nature. Emeraude's Military operations are preparing begin a new stage in order to compete with the impending Zio/Inex merger. For two weeks now they have been moving heavy equipment into their desert base, Phalmut, under cover of night- perhaps for research purposed, I don't know. What I do know is that it is a storage base of vast proportions and they very likely keep A.c's or Vital A.C. part in stock. Whether because of the relatively obscure nature of the base or security cutbacks doe to operation restructuring, security at the base is particularly lax. And this is where you come in.  
  
Through painful discoveries I have managed to acquire an Armored Core. This is now small feat in our day, as you well know. And after consulting with the Master Talbot it has been decided that you will vanguard this mission. Why you? I know you will be asking. Why not Ace? Why not Gunner, Why not Tremble? Because Tremble is dead, Gunner awaits execution and Ace. The point is we have chosen you. And though this unit is vastly different from your Kamek-2 it is in working condition and once belonged to a very good pilot. I have no doubt that it will see you through. Enclosed is all the information you will need in order to make contact with my associates, Euganz, the code you will speak to him, who will turn him over to you. There I will also leave you a letter to tell you more about the upcoming mission.  
  
I must admit that I am very excited, Grail. I believe that you will succeed and I believe that the Ravens will soon take to the skies again. 3 years we have been land bound and under the yoke of Zio Matrix. But our return is close at hand. Till later, Goodbye.  
  
Kline W.K. 


	3. Chapter 2: From Underground

We're at it again! All efforts to keep the length of chapter 2 down have FAILED! We hope you love it as it is. Please review. That's the cream de la crème of writing a story, you know, to hear what people think about it. Enjoy. And look out for chapter three; it's cooking as we speak, er, type. ENJOY!  
  
Chapter 2: From The Underground  
  
For several minutes now Grail had been sitting in a bar in a town he'd never been speaking to a tall middle-aged man he had never met before about things he could not care less about. When he spoke about politics the man was supposed to answer by speaking about something else, when Grail began speaking about that the man was supposed to change topics and so forth. Seven times this exchange was supposed to occur and six had already passed successfully. And just as Grail said "No, I've never really been a fan of "Robo-battle." the man shot him a half smile.  
  
"Come with me!" He paid for both the drink they had barely touched and the two walked out into the blue-gray evening.  
  
"Take off your cloak," the man said, " It makes you look suspicious." Grail removed the cloak without protest though he had not been wearing it to keep inconspicuous, so much as to keep the icy wind from freezing his face off.  
  
Before long the two turned into an alleyway. Homeless people lined the walls on both side, huddled down in little masses, trying to keep their warm in the cold unforgiving Northern winter; an exercise in futility. At the end of the alley a number of said homeless people rose to their feet at their approach. Grail looked on warily expecting trouble. He had no weapons on him, he realized, but he was a decent hand to hand fighter and he wagered that he could hold hid own against an onslaught of homeless. But as the man walked towards them they split before him. He came to a sewer, lifted the lid with the aid of a crowbar and waited for Grail, who entered ever so slowly, not quite sure what to expect next. As soon as he entered the sewer the man followed behind him.  
  
" I wasn't sure for a moment if you were the right person, but I suspected you were." Grail admitted. "Hoped you were, I should say." They walked along a thin ledge as beneath them filth water moved slowly along into the dark beneath of the earth.  
  
" I was not sure I was doing the code properly, you can't believe how relieved I was when I heard you say 'follow me'". Grail said, figuring that if he and the man were going to be walking together, they might as well talk a bit. A great black gap stood before them, spanned only by three steel rods, two for hand hold and one to walk precariously along.  
  
"Unfortunate times we live in," the man, who's name was Euganz, said forlornly," when every man is your enemy until you know otherwise." After that the man went silent and did not say anything for a great deal of time. An hour or so it seemed before him and Grail began speaking again. They spoke about the state of things within the colonies, the impending merger of Zio Matrix and Inex, and it's implications.  
  
" With those kind of odds," Grail commented, " I barely see how we could take the victory."  
  
" Victory," the old soldier said turning away, " Who said anything about victory."  
  
On they walked for what seemed to be hours; with no mark, no sign, no anything but the sordid smells of humanities waste, Grail could not mark the time. Whether the odor, the fact that he was walking in a sewer deep beneath a dying planet, the fact that he was part of a dying resistance, or the fact that he was clutching weakly at what sometimes seemed a dying hope, Grail was beginning to feel ill.  
  
"We're here." said Euganz and not a moment too soon.  
  
The low ceiling began to taper slowly away upwards as they walked on. Soon they were coming into a large room - or in the old days what must have been an intersection for many channels of waste. And there, in the sallow sewer light it stood; the imposing steel behemoth, giant of the new age. An A.C.  
  
Grail came into it's presence warily, slowly, looking up at it from a distance.  
  
" What wrong" Euganz asked, starling Grail.  
  
" Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing. I just hadn't seen one of these in a long time."  
  
But as he came closer to it for the first time Grail realized something that previously he had not: He knew this A.C.!  
  
" Where did you get this?" he asked."  
  
" A pilot, looked alot like you, now that you mention it."  
  
" White hair, slender, dark sunken eyes."  
  
"Yea, he looked unhappy all the time. Why, you sound like you know him."  
  
"Thats gear is The Black, It belonged to Ace," he lowered his head. "He was my friend."  
  
-  
  
" He stayed here with us for a time, several months, trying to make contact with some people - you and your organization I would guess now, but couldn't find ya'll. He was very secretive about some things, but generally he was very nice. In these times a man must be permitted his secrets though, and we all carry a fair share o' em. When Section 8- just west of here- came under attack, he went to it's defense. Him alone. One black gear against a MT army. A very stupid boy." he said this sadly, more to himself than to Grail. Suddenly he began to chuckle "And by god, he beat them all! Every last one of those skulking son a @#$%, he beat them. By the last twenty he had nothing but a malfunctioning energy knife. But the day was his- or so it seemed." Here he stopped for a time, as if to reign in his emotions, "When all was said and done he'd taken some hits in the fight. We did everything we could for him, but he was awfully wounded. My men dissemble the gear and brought it down here and reassemble it again. Your friend was a good man. It hurt to watch such a soul finally give up his ghost. But everything happens for a reason, you know, and the reason for his death now seems clear, with your coming and all."  
  
Grail shot him a look " No. I can't pilot that gear."  
  
The man shot Grail and equally serious, somewhat menacing look "You can and you will pilot that gear. I've kept that thing here at the greatest peril. You're not about to turn it down, damn you. The lease is up. Take it and get out!"  
  
" You don't understand."  
  
" Or maybe I understand all too well. You told me you friend Ace saved your life many times, right?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Clearly he saw something you don't see. There is a grand design in all of this and all we can do is play the part we are meant to and hope for the best. Your friend knew that, and you'd better learn it."  
  
Grail looked out towards the iron behemoth awaiting him with it's dark visage.  
  
" What if- what if I can't do it?"  
  
" Then when the last hour comes, we'll go down fighting." He turned towards the gear and yelled. "Retinue, I want this gear at Battlespeed in 6 hours! MOVE IT!"  
  
And with that command the gears of resistance, so to speak, were put into action. Everything they had in the way of manpower, arms and wherewithal the weary soldiers of the Retinue poured into the war-readiness of that gear. The experience was something far greater than itself, Grail could clearly see, for it represented the hopes and wished of the people. Euganz ordered that no expense be spared in outfitting The Black for battle. Old and weary though it was, the royal blue giant gleamed brightly in the yellow light as the engineers worked busily about it. There was a sense of hope in the whole activity that drove the workers along even into the hours. The skilled engineer under Euganz's command were able to bring it up to battle speed - as close as they could approximate. What could not be replaced was promptly fixed and what could not be replaced or fixed was done without. As the old Raven maxim goes, "Plan as you can, the rest: improvise."  
  
By the fifth hour Grail was suited and ready to go. On the catwalk overlooking the procession, Grail stood alongside Euganz inputting the last if the data into his battle suit. The A.c. interfacing jumpsuit- the closest thing to amalgamating man and machine that had been achieved in this day -without actually doing so was a complicated thing. Quite aside from that, Ace's Black-One was not a "normal" A.C., for you see Ace was not a normal A.c. pilot. The Raven nicknamed "Ace" was out on loan- sent from a distant land by a powerful group called A.E. United to aid the Ravens in their war against the oppressive Corps'. The dark haired soldier was a rarity in the days of the mercenary, gifted with a double serving of virtue, 2 doses of courage and several of ballz. He was a pilot, warrior, engineer, strategist and skilled repair-man. He could not do everything, but he could do a great many things. Grail had big shoes to fill. But anyway, his gear was not of any common manufacture. On this continent the prevalent A.E. designs were Kisaragi(a failed military/industrial company), Mirage or B.Z.G. (BeZah General). Black-1 was none of these. It was an A.E. Collective model (or so Grail assumed- Ace had never said much about it besides, "we're friends") different in architecture, layout, LANGAUGE, and everything else. But the Retinue had figured much of it out through controlled test and to Alex they imparted this information furiously over the last four hours. Now, feeling like his head was about to explore with this massive information upload, he stepped out to his charge. In the end the Retinu had managed to outfit the Black with a MAK rifle and a pair of proxy magazines, a J-60 pistol and a laser blade. Scant little, it's true, but they gave it from the bottom of their hearts. Grail thanked them - men woman and children made up the engineering crew, much to Grails surprise and unerring sorrow- and approached the A.C.  
  
" Treat her well," said Euganz, grasping his shoulder " You sit in the saddle of a peoples hope. None of that hero shyt."  
  
Grail thanked him and climbed into the cockpit. He hopped into the seat, threw the 5 point belt around him and yelled "Online!"  
  
But nothing happened.  
  
Grail looked at the controls, surprised." Online." Once more nothing. "Black. Online!" he said fiddling with some buttons. He mumbled to himself angrily, pressing this, that and everything.  
  
Nothing happened again. Outside Euganz and his people watched, waiting for some sign of life. The black giant stood before them, coldly looking out into the dark, unsturing despite a great deal of energy being expended in the effort. "Damn it! Damn it, DAMN IT! ONLINE!"  
  
And still not a god-damn thing.  
  
But at that moment something occurred to him. What was going to happen to Euganz and his people when Grail and Black left here? Their secret-in-the-sewer would certainly be discovered as Grail rose into the sky and far beyond the hands of anyone who could stop him, but they would be left down here, without a gear and without any way to defend themselves. The thought saddened Grail that this had not occurred to him till now, but it was clearly too late for him to do much. Except make their sacrifice count. He closed his eyes.  
  
" Black," he said softly, "It's only the two of us now. You probably miss Ace, I know, and I'm sorry for that. I miss his too. But I need your help now, more than I could ever put into words. You and me have a long way to go together, and I can't do it without you. There are many people who need our help, but I need you now. So please, Online."  
  
"Master Arms mode Engaged."  
  
And with that, the mighty black giant opened his crimson eyes, and rose up from his knees to assume his full rank. Like a dusky colossus it stood, hands at it's side, head arched back and looking towards the heavens. The catwalks swung away and the circle above it split into two pieces and the yellow evening light began to seep in. The Raibak Zh-11 engine roared to life, spitting green flames from it's solid rocket boosters.  
  
" Do the right thing," Euganz said holding up a closed fist against his chest and then extending it towards the gear; the symbol of hope. Slowly every member of Euganzs team did the same as the A.c. they had hidden for so long now left them. Up and slowly away it went, bearing on its' shoulders, a promise and a hope.  
  
Omnisector News: ".Within an hour of the strange Machine brazen daylight departure, 200 hundred Mirage unit's operating in the area had descended on the sewer flanked by Mt's and Spider-mechs. At this point they were attacked by armed terrorist, number some four hundred. A fierce battle ensued, but the insurrection was quickly and safely put down. " The safety of the colony and it's people is paramount" said Commander Lownes, a officer of the Mirage Army. "Priority one is your safety." -As the man spoke, in the background bodies were being brought up and thrown on an accumulating pile. The fact that the vast majority of these bodies were that of woman and children was certainly not lost on any but the visually impaired.- "This is Sheila Hall. Omni-sector news! Goodnight."  
  
To be continued. 


End file.
